Blackpool Zoo adverts have long been synonymous with Blackpool trams – and in particular the Brush Railcoaches – with the very first single deck advert being for that very attraction. In this edition of Picture in Time we are taking a look at the last all over advert on a single decker for Blackpool Zoo as carried on Brush 626.
This advert – which lets be honest probably wasn’t a patch of some of the earlier Blackpool Zoo designs since the first in 1975 – was first applied on 626 (one of the Brush Railcoaches which underwent overhauls in the 1990s) in mid-2005 and lasted until the end of the 2008 season. Featuring a white base the tram’s advertising vinyls included the use of the dreaded contravision including images of various animals you could see at the Zoo including Tigers, Lions… and Dinosaurs!
626 did receive one further livery (into fleet livery) before it embarked on a new career in preservation. A career which has stalled as it was purchased for the aborted Wirral Waters scheme by Merseytravel. After a period of storage at Pacific Road on the Birkenhead Tramway the tram has been moved for further storage with an uncertain future.
We catch up with 626 and its advert in 2007 when it was still celebrating what was new at Blackpool Zoo in 2005. In this first image the tram is close to the Victoria Street stop in Fleetwood with a service which is nearing its destination on 4th September.
And then on 5th September the tram is seen at Manchester Square as the light fades and the illuminations prepare to be switched on for another night. 626 is this time running through to Bispham.
Both Photographs by Gareth Prior
637 says maybe last applied advert for Blackpool zoo but not last advert as I still have (most) of mine left at time of writing!